VOL. XIV, No. 384.] SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 1829. [PRICE 2d.
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Voltaire's Chateau, at Ferney.
[Illustration]
Voltaire is the bronze and plaster poet of France. Cheek by jowl with
Rosseau, (their squabbles are forgotten in the roll of fame), you see
him perched on mantel, bracket, _ecritoire_, and bookcase: in short,
their effigies are as common as the plaster figures of Shakspeare and
Milton are in England. How far the rising generation of France may
profit by their household memorials--or the sardonic and satanic smile
of their great poet--we will not pretend to determine; neither do we
invite any comparison; although Voltaire, with all his trickseyings and
panting after fame, never inculcated so sublime a lesson as is conveyed
in
"The cloud-capp'd towers," &c.
which are inscribed beneath the bust of our immortal bard.
But we turn from Voltaire and his stormy times to the seat of his
retirement--Ferney, about six miles from Geneva; where he lived for
twenty years; but in his eighty-fourth year actually quitted this scene
of delightful repose for the city of Paris--there to enjoy a short
triumph, and die. The latter event took place in 1778. At pages 62 and
69 of vol. xii. of THE MIRROR, we have given a brief description of
Ferney, with many interesting anecdotes, carefully compiled from a
variety of authorities. Here Voltaire lived in princely style, as
Condorcet says, "removed from illusion, and whatever could excite
momentary, or personal passion." According to M. Simond, a recent
tourist, the _château_ is still visited by travellers, and Voltaire's
bed-room is shown in the state he left it. The date of our view is about
the year 1800, since which the residence has been much neglected: and
during the late war, it was frequently the quarters of the Austrian
soldiers. The gardens are laid out in the formal, geometrical style,
and they command a view of the town and lake of Geneva. The apartments
of the ground-floor of the house are in the same state as during
Voltaire's lifetime. In the dining-hall is a picture, representing
demons horsewhipping Fréron:[1] such was Voltaire's mode of perpetuating
his antagonists.
[Footnote 1: Fréron was an eminent journalist of the last century: his
criticisms procured him many powerful enemies, among whom was Voltaire.]